


Not So Alone

by SerenitySky



Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Tree, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-21
Updated: 2012-12-21
Packaged: 2017-11-21 21:02:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/602034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerenitySky/pseuds/SerenitySky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter is spending his first Christmas with the Avengers and realizes that things might not turn out as bad as he thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not So Alone

It was late in the evening when Peter hung the last ornament on the tree. Everyone else had left not too long ago; Clint went off in search of spiked eggnog while Steve rushed after in an attempt to convince him that, no Peter can’t have any, while Tony and Bruce had gone down to the lab for some gadgety, improvement on the lighting system or something and Natasha and Thor were getting their late dinner ready.  


For a full house, everything was quiet at the moment. Peter sighed and took in the rare silence, admiring the handiwork that he and the Avengers team had put together. His brow furrowed slightly.  


“JARVIS,” he murmured, “could you turn down the lights, please?”  


“Of course Mr. Parker.”  


Slowly, the room darkened and was lit only by the soft glow of the lights on the tree. Smiling slightly, he sat on the floor and leaned against the couch. Now he _really_ took in the tree. It was fairly large, but not overwhelmingly so, thanks to Tony’s exuberance and Steve’s insistence on some modesty. There was wooden cranberry garland mixed in with popcorn garland and one or two strings of gumdrops. The ornaments didn’t follow any theme and were a crazy mishmash of everyone’s tastes. Tony liked the flashier hangings, and had metal tinsel hanging off of as many branches as he could. Thor found great amusement in the fake candy, and he would not take no for an answer when they were placing the garland. To Thor’s liking, Bruce had several, delicate glass ornaments, some of them in the shape of wrapped candies and candy canes. Steve, of course, had a few old fashioned wooden ornaments along with some handmade ones. Clint had a variety of odder ornaments, ranging from a santa octopus to a snowman Dalek. Natasha’s were mostly made of pewter and rather intricate, though she had a few hand-knit ones that looked like she may have brought them from her childhood home.  


All of Peter’s ornaments used to belong to Aunt May and Uncle Ben. There were a couple of lacy ones, some older ones similar to Steve’s, and a couple of horses made out of wine corks and yarn that Peter was rather fond of. The angel at the top was May’s too; it was always her favourite.  
Peter felt the tears pricking at his eyes and swallowed thickly. This was his first Christmas without either his aunt or his uncle. There was going to be no turkey dinner with just the three of them, no tantalizing smell of May baking her famous Christmas cake, no rewatching of television specials, nothing. Everything had changed.  


But, Peter thought as he gazed up at the beautifully decorated tree, maybe things weren’t going to be so bad. All of the Avengers treated him so well, and he was really beginning to warm up to Tony and Steve, though maybe not quite to the point he’d be able to start calling either of them ‘dad’ anytime soon.  


“Wow, the tree looks really good Peter.”  


The teenager jumped at the sudden voice and hastily wiped his eyes on his sleeve before turning to see Natasha striding in with two mugs. Of course it would be one of the assassins who would come looking for him.  


“Um, thanks. I just finished putting up my decorations, everyone else had already finished.”  


Natasha smiled and handed him one of the mugs that he now saw contained hot chocolate.  


“Thank you,” he murmured.  


She nodded and perched herself on the arm of the couch, taking a sip of her drink. It was then that Peter noticed her…unusual sweater.  


“What the hell are you wearing?”  


Natasha glanced down as if she’d forgotten she was wearing a colourful, baggy sweater and made a face. “Oh. That. Clint convinced Thor that Christmas sweaters were a necessary tradition. So, naturally, Thor went out and got us each one and he is unyielding in his insistence that we all wear them.” She smirked down at him, “You’re next.”  


Peter groaned and Natasha laughed softly.  


“Don’t worry; you managed to escape with only snowflakes. Stark, on the other hand, has Santa and a full-on fleet of elves accompanying his sleigh.”  


The young man raised his eyebrows in surprise and grinned, “I can’t wait to see _that_.”  


They laughed quietly for another moment before settling back into a comfortable silence, admiring the tree and sipping their hot chocolate.  


“You know, we really are happy you’re here with us, Pete.”  


Peter glanced up at her, surprised when she broke the silence and at her words. She continued, “I know it must have been hard, coming here so soon after…everything, and then when Rogers and Stark offered to become your fathers. I hope you understand that, even though we’re a highly dysfunctional family,” Peter chuckled at that, “you’re part of this family too, and we care about you.”  


She rested a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently. Peter couldn’t resist placing his own hand on top of hers and squeezing back, tears once again threatening to spill. Their eyes met and Peter could see the sincerity and truth behind everything that had just been said. He didn’t realize until then that he had needed that reassurance, especially now. The loneliness that had gripped him and refused to go away had evaporated, not entirely of course but it was certainly a lot better.  


“Thanks Natasha…”  


Suddenly, a violent crash echoed from the kitchen, followed by several shouts and a clear _“For God’s sake, don’t break the alcohol too!!!”_  


Natasha just sighed. “Those boys; honestly, I can’t leave them alone for five minutes.”  


She rose and ruffled his hair, “Come on kiddo, we’d better go evaluate the damage and see whose head is going to get cut off.”  


Peter laughed, though somewhat nervously because it was _Natasha_ , and after the episode where Tony and Thor destroyed her new bike during a sparring match…  


At the sound of shattering glass and a grief-stricken cry, Peter rushed to follow the redhead out and couldn’t help but grin. Maybe this Christmas wouldn’t be so bad after all.


End file.
